Quetiapine has been used in the treatment of severe mental illness in approximately 70 countries including the US, Canada, most Western European countries, and Japan. Quetiapine is a dibenzothiazepine derivative with a relatively broad receptor binding profile. It has major affinity to cerebral serotonergic (5-HT2A), histaminergic (H1), and dopaminergic D1 and D2 receptors, moderate affinity to α1- and α2-adrenergic receptors, and minor affinity to muscarinergic M1 receptors; it demonstrates a substantial selectivity for the limbic system. This receptor avidity profile with relatively higher affinity for the 5-HT2A receptor compared to the D2 receptor is considered to be, at least in part responsible for the antipsychotic characteristics and low incidence of extrapyramidal side-effects of quetiapine.
The efficacy of quetiapine in reducing positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia has been proven in several clinical trials with placebo-controlled comparators. Quetiapine has also demonstrated robust efficacy for treatment of cognitive, anxious-depressive, and aggressive symptoms in schizophrenia. Quetiapine has also proven efficacy and tolerability in the treatment of moderate to severe manic episodes, and in the treatment of juveniles with oppositional-defiant or conduct disorders, and in the treatment of the geriatric population with dementia. Data indicate that quetiapine is also effective in the treatment of bipolar depressive symptoms without increasing the risk of triggering manic episodes, and in the treatment of borderline personality disorder. In comparison with other atypical antipsychotics, quetiapine has a favorable side-effect profile.
In clinical trials, only small insignificant prolongations of the QT interval were observed. Weight-gain liabilities and new-onset metabolic side-effects occupy a middle-ground among newer antipsychotics. As a result of its efficacy and tolerability profile, quetiapine has become well established in the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.
Recently though, in addition to large interindividual variability and weight gain, reports surfaced on treatment emergent diabetes (TED), associated with chronic administration of quetiapine. Additionally, the therapeutical dose of quetiapine is relatively high, forcing the production of pharmaceutical compositions with relatively high concentrations of the active ingredient (up to 60%). Making tablets of such a high concentration of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is difficult, particularly due to the bad tabletting properties of the API.
An advantageous alternative would therefore be to improve the drug's bioavailability, leading to an improved formulation that can lower the total necessary therapeutical dose and/or reduce side-effects such as TED and/or weight gain, and avoid the need for repeated administration. That formulation would help maintain regimen adherence by otherwise reluctant psychiatric patients.